Serial shoplifter escapes prison

A serial thief has escaped being sent to prison despite offending again.

Susan Charles, who has a string of convictions for shoplifting, appeared at Reading Magistrates’ Court earlier this month when she admitted stealing £30 of food items from the BP garage in Tilehurst Road.

The 49-year-old apologised for what happened and said she was high on alcohol and anti-depressants when she went into the store on December 27.

She was captured on CCTV and identified by police who arrested her at her home in Hatford Road, Southcote. She told police she had been drinking but was not drunk and that she was on medication for depression at the time, the court heard.

Charles was sentenced for a variety of offences in March this year. She was given a two-month sentence suspended for 12 months.

Because the sentence was handed out after the offence in December, Jo Belsey, prosecuting, said the court would be unable to activate the suspended sentence and any additional sentence would have to complement the previous one.

The court heard Charles was not sent to prison in February 2008, when she admitted 12 offences of dishonestly obtaining refunds from Asda, food from Co-op and kitchenware from Dunelm Soft Furnishings.

Paul Gilmartin, defending, said: “My client was given a substantial sentence in March, this year, for similar offences and this one simply slipped through the net so to speak.”

Charles, who has a history of mental illness, was ordered to pay £30 compensation to BP Express and given a 12-month conditional discharge.